Hospital refuses plea for hysterectomy on cerebral palsy girl

Saturday 19 January 2008 18.55 EST
First published on Saturday 19 January 2008 18.55 EST

The decision by a hospital in Essex not to carry out a hysterectomy on a 15-year-old girl with cerebral palsy was welcomed yesterday by charities supporting people with disabilities.

The case of Katie Thorpe, from Billericay, who is a wheelchair user, has raised fundamental issues of medical care and patients' rights even though it has not been tested in court.

Katie's mother, Alison, had asked the hospital to remove the teenager's womb because she believed it would improve her daughter's quality of life.

Ms Thorpe, who held discussions with a consultant gynaecologist at the hospital, said she wanted Katie to avoid the "pain, discomfort and indignity" of menstruation.

After considering the case for months, the Mid-Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust declined to go ahead with the procedure without adequate clinical reason.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: "Before we make any decision to operate on a patient we look at each case on an individual basis. This applies in the case of Katie Thorpe and we have met with the family to discuss this. Due to patient confidentiality we are not able to give any more details."

Sharon Collins, executive director of Scope, a charity that supports people with cerebral palsy, said: "This is obviously a difficult situation for Katie and her parents and we understand they may be disappointed with this development.

"This case highlights the woefully inadequate support for disabled children and their families in the UK.

"We have always felt that an irreversible procedure of this nature that is not clinically necessary is not the right way forward. We have also always been surprised that any doctor in the UK would contemplate such a measure."

The controversy has revived concerns about compulsory sterilisation provoked by a case in the United States. A year ago it was revealed that a nine-year-old girl with the mental age of a three-month-old, known only as Ashley X, had undergone surgery to prevent her body undergoing the effects of puberty.

Ms Thorpe, who has two children, told the Daily Mail that the hospital's doctors said they would not consider carrying out the procedure at present.

"When Katie starts her periods they would be prepared to consider if there is any clinical reason for the procedure. Which means that if and when Katie does start her periods, she could endure months and months of pain and discomfort before anything is done."